Canadian stocks fell Friday, moderating weekly gains, after government data said employment growth stalled and metals and mining stocks dropped.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slid 91.49 points Friday to end the day and the week at 11,500.63
The Canadian dollar nipped ahead 0.07 of a cent to 97.36 cents U.S.
Alacer Gold Corp. declined 4.1% to $6.64, Eldorado Gold Corp.fell 1.7% to $12.11 and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. decreased 2.2% to $28.13.
Among heavyweights, Barrick Gold Corp. rose 0.9% to $40.13, Kinross Gold Corp. gained 2.7% to $8.52, and Goldcorp Inc. added 0.4% to $40.28.
Other heavyweights include Imperial Oil dipped 0.3% to $43.04, Suncor declined 0.9% to $29.07.
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported the economy cranked out about 7,700 jobs during May, better than the 5,000 that economists expected. Still, the unemployment rate remained at 7.3%.
Elsewhere, Canada's merchandise exports declined 1.2% in April, while imports edged up 0.1%. Thus this country posted a trade deficit of $367 million in April – its first in six months -- down from a surplus of $152 million in March.
What’s more, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported this morning that housing starts slowed in May to 211,400 units, compared with 243,800 units in April. The April figure was revised down from 244,900 units reported previously.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 3.15 points to 1,292.93. The Nasdaq Canada index gathered 2.50 points to 371.91
All but three of the 14 Toronto subgroups were negative on the day, weighed mostly by energy, financials and consumer staples, each off 1.3%.
The three gainers proved to be gold, ahead 0.7%, real-estate, improving 0.3%, and materials, picking up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks enjoyed one of the biggest weekly gains of the year Friday, but the tone was cautious given the uncertain outlook for Spain this weekend.
The Dow Jones Industrials garnered 93.24 points Friday, to conclude the day and the week at 12,554.20
The S&P 500 was 9.89 points higher to 1,324.88. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index had recovered 27.40 points to close at 2,858.42
The major indexes posted strong gains for the week. The Dow is up 3.5%, the S&P has gained 3% and the Nasdaq was 3.9% higher.
Investors gravitated towards stocks that are considered defensive, including consumer staples such as Walmart and Coca-Cola.
Shares of International Game Technology edged up 0.7%. The gaming firm announced late Thursday that it had received a recommendation for an online gaming license from the Nevada Gaming Control Board.
Shares of Molina Healthcare jumped 22% after the company announced late Thursday that Ohio had endorsed its bid to continue as a health care provider for the state's Medicaid beneficiaries.
Shares of McDonald's and KFC-owner Yum! Brands declined Friday amid growing fears about slowing economic growth in China. McDonald's announced that its sales at stores open at least a year in Asia, the Middle East and Africa regions declined 1.7% in May, with particular weakness in Japan and China.
JPMorgan shares rose 2.5%. The bank's CEO, Jamie Dimon, will appear in front of the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday to answer questions about the company's $2-billion U.S. loss.
The week's gains were largely driven by hopes for a coordinated intervention by global central banks. On Thursday, China's central bank announced a surprise interest rate cut. The European Central Bank held rates steady at its meeting Wednesday, but many analysts expect the E.C.B. to cut rates next month.
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday that the U.S. central bank stands ready to act, but he offered no hint that additional stimulus measures are imminent. Bernanke's comments came after other Fed officials suggested the bank could extend a policy of reinvesting proceeds from assets on its balance sheet into the Treasury market, known as Operation Twist.
Economically speaking, the U.S. trade deficit for April came in at $50.1 billion U.S, roughly in line with forecasts of analysts by Briefing.com, and down from the revised $52.6 billion U.S. in March.
Wholesale inventories for April rose by 0.6%, after increasing by 0.3% in the month prior.
The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury gained a bit, lowering yields to 1.64% from Thursday’s 1.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
The price of a barrel of oil shed another 38 cents to $84.44 U.S.
Gold futures for June delivery rose $3.40 to end at $1,591.40 U.S. an ounce, reversing earlier losses.
